Blood Alley Square

Names plucked from
where?

Blood Alley Square and Gaolers Mews are evocative names. Guide
books and tourism websites always include them in their
itineraries conjuring visions of brawls and murders, or butchers
hacking away at poor beasts, the hangman's noose, and of course
ghosts. Unfortunately, the truth is very different. Both names
were chosen in the 1970s to mark new spaces created during the
renovation and beautification of the newly minted heritage
district of Gastown.

Where did these names come from?

Vancouver was incorporated as a city in April 1886 and burned to
the ground in June of the same year. The fire destroyed what had
been the town of Granville, a ramshackle collection of commercial
buildings and residences centred on Carrall and Water Streets. It
was surveyed in 1870 by a Colonial government anxious to bring
order to the growing community surrounding (Gassy) Jack Deighton's
saloon,the new six-block community stretched west from Carrall to
Cambie and south from Water to Hastings.

In 1871 Jonathan Miller was appointed the town's first constable
and later held the job of postmaster and customs collector.
Miller's occupations become part of our name puzzle because as
constable he had a couple of simple log buildings on his property
which served as the jail cells. Because of his government
positions he was supplied with an official residence which was
known locally as the Courthouse, though it didn't serve as one.

So far so good, except that many researchers and writers
placed Miller's house in the wrong location. instead of being set
on Carrall close to the lane between Water and Cordova (formerly
Willow Street) his house and jail cells were to be found on Water
Street six or seven lots west of Carrall, nowhere close to the
current Gaolers Mews.

Adding to the confusion is the name of his house - the
Courthouse. This leads to the idea that if there's a courthouse
then there must be a gallows and hangings which means there must
be ghosts...

But wait, there's more.

The picture of the early town is further clouded by a map
published in the Vancouver World in the 1896 to celebrate the
town's 10th. birthday. An early resident recounted to the
newspaper how the town was laid out and where many of the early
businesses were located. Miller's residence is noted as well as
the jail. But the author of the map made a big mistake and named
Water Street as Carrall (and Carrall as Water St.) thus placing
Miller's house in its imaginary location. The map was republished
without correction in the 1930s and continues to be available at
the Archives.

The map could reinforce the idea of the area around today's Blood
Alley as being filled with butcher shops because it shows George
Black's shop on the mis-named Carrall and it is assumed a butcher
shop would slaughter animals on site. Black though had his
slaughter house at False Creek near what is Main Street. Also
shown is a cow shed and some chicken coops but no evidence to
suggest slaughterhouses.

After the fire of 1886 the area was rebuilt. There were some
bars, the Boulder hotel at Cordova and Carrall, the Balmoral
across the street and some on Water Street but not in the huge
concentration hinted at in the stories that circulate about Blood
Alley. Newspaper accounts of the day don't indicate any major
fights, murder or general mayhem in the alley, and most
importantly Major Matthews the city's first archivist and a man
who interviewed most of the early residents of this city - and a
stickler for detail - never mentions Blood Alley.

The name was plucked out of the air or chosen because of some
incomplete research or maybe an offhand comment about a bar fight,
and given to the square in the alley in the 1970s.

So interesting stories but just that...

In case you are wondering, the official name of the alley between
Carrall and Abbott is Trounce Alley, a name used since the 1890s
but only officially sanctioned in the 1970s. It was named for
Victoria's Trounce Alley by Frank Hart whose furniture store
backed onto the alley. Hart had spent an enjoyable visit to
Victoria and remembered Trounce Alley there fondly.

Interested in London?

September is when we go to London for a week of walks. Drop us a
line if you are interested in being on the list.